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First came the rumors that there was such a thing as a Unicorn Frappuccino and that it was pink. Or blue. Or possibly purple. The rumors became such a clamor that Starbucks’ Facebook page was swamped with comments begging to know if the Unicorn Frappuccino was real before the now-infamous drink was even announced.

And once it hit, it went massively viral. On Facebook, Starbucks’ April activity garnered a total of 53,000 shares, and over 50,000 of them were related to the Unicorn. It didn’t just generate buzz online. It brought people in stores, sometimes driving to several different stores as ingredients ran out. It also brought in sales, contributing to a same-store sales increase of 3% in the second quarter. The idea of limited edition, or even limited time sales, like the Frappuccino Happy Hour, is here to stay for Starbucks going forward.

Starbucks managed all of this without even tying the product to a specific event. But Krispy Kreme, 7-Eleven and other retailers jumped on eclipse mania in the same way – by promoting unique, limited edition products that were related to the eclipse. For Krispy Kreme, it was “blackout” or eclipse donuts, available for only specific hours on the two days before the eclipse, and for the day of the event. While a video on Facebook might generate tens of thousands of views, Krispy Kreme’s video announcing eclipse donuts generated 3.4 million views on the social channel – and keep in mind that the company only has 6.8 million Likes of its page.

Results of the eclipse tie-in aren’t available yet from Krispy Kreme (I asked the company and received no response), but early reports found long lines, and social media was rife with customers who either showed up at the wrong times or otherwise weren’t able to get their hands on the treats. On Facebook, some customers reported driving two hours or more to get to their closest Krispy Kreme.

In my own experience, a quick check of Google Maps at 9 p.m. on August 20 found that store foot traffic was well over peak (and how I wished I took that screenshot). The traffic on the roads was also backed up not just on the street to enter the parking lot, but on the main road adjacent, and even onto the highway exit ramp leading to the main road. I decided to wait until the next morning to try to get mine.

Those Darn Millennials

Retailers have offered “stunt” products before – products that are either in themselves something of a publicity stunt or are taking advantage of an event that itself is generating a lot of publicity.

So why is this a big deal now? Well, for one, social media has become only more entrenched in people’s lives, especially with the rise of highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. That makes stunts prime to go viral when it works. And when people are dying their hair pink and blue to match your product, and then sharing those images on Instagram, then you know your product is going viral.

Two, younger generations are very much into the idea of events more than products. This is especially true of millennials. But things get even more interesting with Gen Z, where it appears that interest in the purchase being part of the experience, or at least interest in products to help enable the experience, is much higher than it is for millennials, who focus more on the experience itself.

Which means, as Gen Z becomes a larger part of the consumer population, you can expect interest in stunt- or experience-based products to continue, if not intensify.

How Much Is Too Much?

There are a lot of questions for brands as they try to navigate this space. But the biggest one is, how many special products can you feature before none of the products seem “special” any longer? Post-Unicorn Starbucks has certainly not tried to push out a new unique product every week as part of its push to drive sales during the sluggish 2-5 p.m. time frame. Everyone rushed to Krispy Kreme because this was the first time the company had really messed with its glaze recipe. But if they “go chocolate” again before, say, New Year’s Eve, they may find a huge fall-off in response, just because it will no longer feel so unique or special.

Taken together, where Starbucks introduced a completely unique product, and Krispy Kreme altered a long-familiar staple product, brands face a frequency issue on two fronts: how many unique products can you pump out before they lose their effectiveness? And how many times can you mess with your staple products before those special editions lose their specialness?

I fear that the answer is, not too many times – not enough to make a full product line out of limited editions or a regular, large part of your brand strategy. But like pop-up shops, given the perfect convergence between unique experience, a feeling of community around that experience, and also a unique product from a loved brand, we will undoubtedly see more of these limited editions in the future.

I am the vice president of Retail Innovation at Aptos, a retail enterprise solution provider. I am charged with accelerating retailers’ ability to innovate. I have been a

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I am the vice president of Retail Innovation at Aptos, a retail enterprise solution provider. I am charged with accelerating retailers’ ability to innovate. I have been a top global retail industry influencer for several years, with a background in retail and technology. I regularly draw on my experience as a retailer (store operations and supply chain), an ITer (point of sale and back office), a consultant (IT strategy), and a software marketer (for two different retail solutions). I'm not afraid to use my own digital-native children as guinea pigs in this wild world of digital, social, and retail – and happy to share what I learn.